i'm pretty sure my cat is welded on. Should i just cut it out? I know how to weld so welding a new one on is no problem.

 

If you have a welder, then I would go ahead and make a cut somewhere ahead of the cat that is easy to reweld. I can't say this is it for sure. I didn't have a sudden problem. Mine was progressively less power for about a week or two to the point I actually couldn't start it and had to cut the exhaust in order to get it over to the shop to get a new one on it.